Anniversary Month Kick-Off

Today is the two year celebration of Everyday Sassypants! On October 1st 2007, I started this blog to continue with my tradition of online journals. In the beginning, I was not so serious about posting regularly and wrote in a style of general blabber like I had in previous blogs. My friends encouraged me to keep going but I knew if I was going to commit to something that had the promise of "Everyday" in the title, I needed to commit fully.

Though you may not have realized it, that April I started to follow patterns. Monday Funday, Newsday Tuesday, I Want Wednesday, List Thursday and Friday My Day. After some time I fell out of these patterns, but when I became serious about the blog they were an extremely helpful guide. Categories grew and traditions were made, writers block was overcome as my words poured out in regard to anything and everything. Every day I had a challenge to complete, whether it be embedding a video code or writing some witty remarks on pop culture, there was an agenda.

I posted 4x in March 2008. 15 times in April 2008. 26 times that June. Now I average over 40 posts a month. Those guidelines helped me grow. And I am thankful for that because the truth of the matter is, for as lighthearted as this blog may seem, I truly need it. Two years ago, I had just graduated college. I take pride in the fact that when I went to American University, I was constantly engaged in something. On a regular day, I went from my work study job, to class, to Student Government Meetings, to hostessing at Chadwicks, to homework. Substitute something in there for improv, my internship, my floor meetings as an RA or regular desk shifts and you basically have four years of my life. It was one filled with purpose, a life that was genuinely fulfilling.

Then you graduate- and all you have are 8 hours a day of work. Nine to Five. Sometimes those 8 hours can't even be filled with work. Then you have more hours after where there is nothing you have to do. And while I certainly was happy to take a breather- I couldn't sit still, more importantly I couldn't stay silent. This blog is my creative salvation. The energy I used to put toward planning weekly events, artistry applied to my floor bulletin boards and innovation exercised when performing improv would have gone to waste other wise. Everyday Sassypants is my outlet, it is the place where I take all of those instincts and put them into words.


My whole life, people have told me that I should be a writer. But somewhere between Creative Writing 101, a failed submission to Lit Mag and realizing I truly can't stand press releases- I lost faith in my potential. "I could never really be a writer," I repeatedly thought to myself- pouring over piles of 'peer reviews' from my brainy, witty, hipster classmates in Creative Writing, holding the rejection letter from Lit Mag in my door room at AU and receiving a B in Writing For Public Relations. "No, I could never be a writer."

Exactly a month ago, when I posted my review of the book Commencement, Carly's Mom sent me a Facebook message and told me, once again, that I should be a writer. When the rush from flattery went away, those failures immediately began to echo in my mind. Sassypants... a writer? She who heralds the merits of Beyonce's big hoop earrings and continually writes about shoes that she won't really buy- that girl is not a writer.

But then I remembered those notebooks I have from childhood. Marble and spiral bound books filled with drawings, magazine clips and short stories. I remembered how great I felt in high school, when an underclassmen told me my poem in the lit mag had inspired her and that she had it hanging up in her room. I turn to the journals I have kept since I'm 14, in worn shoeboxes, their pages tattered and beaten with blue ink telling tales and spilling my vulnerabilities. And then there are these public blogs- my playground for thought and entertainment. Sometimes I write what I'm thinking, other times I write so that I don't have to be occupied by my thoughts. I find comfort in knowing I can use words to bring my feelings to fruition and to stir those feelings in others. On the other hand, some of my most beautiful words may never even be read by the world- but it's enough for me to be able to release them .  And what I write about may not change your life- but it certainly can brighten your day.

It was during this reflection that it occurred to me that I don't need to be a writer because I am a writer. I've been a writer for a long time and I fully intend to stay one. Sassypants deserves celebration because it is where my personality erupts with words - and I am beyond grateful to have this daily forum to illustrate myself to the world.

The only thing stopping you from being what you want to be is your own insecurities. Act on your instincts, own your ambitions and deliver on them, take the whispers from your heart and turn them into the roar of a lion. We might not always get it right but we will never be wrong for actually trying. Sometimes it's just as easy as accepting who we are, realizing that something scares us but also facing the fact that we would lose a big piece of ourselves if we didn't give into our desires. I will never stop writing.

Here's to many more years of putting on these pants and to my official coming out: Jaclyn Nicole Pulice is a writer. And because I'm more about major celebrations than minor happenings, the anniversary doesn't stop here- keep your eyes peeled for more honorary posts and perhaps some surprises through the rest of this month.

Which reminds me- Why Hello October! You are my favorite month and I'm happy to have you.

Now let's get the party started...
Always, Always, Always

-Jac